American Girls

Chapt. 12

When Taylor awakes cramped yet considerably warm on the couch she manages to smile when she sees Karlie still peacefully sleeping. With some amount of unknown skill, she manages to slip out from under her. Placing Karlie's head on a pillow she stands, free from the couch entirely.

Stretching her body as high and as far up as she can she sighs as quietly as she can,  then reaching down for her cell phone. Seeing a few text messages she scrolls to the one she's looking for. Ian, and there's actually two. One mentions that he simply hasn't seen a bad article pop up yet. A good sign since it's been about twelve hours since the incident. The second however, is the one text she's really looking for. Shooting him back a quick message, she slips her phone into her back pocket and tip toes her way upstairs for a quick shower. Literally undressing on her way in she steps into the shower and cleans her entire body as quickly as possibly. Stepping out, she dries her body and slips on a mini skirt and matching crop too, the usual she wore with this coming era.

Biting her lip she really doesn't want to run the hair dryer but there's no way around it. Cringing, she turns the moody hair dryer on and thanks herself silently that her hair is short. It doesn't take long to dry it when it's cut short, more manageable. Finishing, she quickly wraps up the cord and makes her way quietly out of the bathroom and to her bedroom door.

Sticking her head out into the hallway she squints. Listening carefully she waits with baited breath, silently praying Karlie was still asleep on the couch. To her luck, a very loud snore comes out of the living room and Taylor grins wide. Making her way back into the bathroom she applies her signature makeup and in no time is transformed to the Taylor Swift everyone knew. But that's not who she was today.

Today, she was different.

Lightly taking the stairs she prepares coffee for when Karlie wakes up. Leaving a bagel out on the counter as well as a few medications to help sooth the pain. Scrolling a small note, Taylor kisses the edge, leaving a perfect lipstick print before setting it down and making her way out the front door.

As expected she comes face to face with her body guard she'd been contacting, Ian.

"Kar is inside and she's currently sleeping on the couch. Can we make sure she's kept an eye on and does not leave this apartment?" Taylor questions sternly.

"She's going to be taken care of, Ms. Swift." Ian speaks reassuringly as he leads their way out of the apartment and into the car he's prepared for them. Opening Taylor's door he makes sure she's safe, peering around their surrounding everything's clear. Eight in the morning was still early for lazy city sleepers who'd rather function at night. The paps stayed away as well, a blessing for them both.

"Okay I'm good." Taylor calls, Ian shutting the door and taking his spot in the drivers seat.

Nothing is said as he quickly pulls out and merges into early morning traffic. The one thing that never fails, traffic.

Taylor can see Ian's curious eyes peering back at her in the rear view mirror from time to time. She knows he's doing his job but he's worked with her so long he's more of a friend. And she knows she can tell him everything which is why she's told him about this guy. Taylor's only goal is to put an end to this crap he does to Karlie. That's all she wants. What Karlie did to him was by no means acceptable or okay, but him taking that photo of them didn't make it any better, she couldn't let him publish this.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Ian questions neutrally minutes later as they've almost approached the apartment building. Even though he's wearing sunglasses Taylor knows he's looking back at her in the mirror to check on her, she nods with no emotion.

"I'm positive." She mumbles sternly, keeping her eyes trained forward.

"You've got me." Ian reassures with a small rare smile before he too trains his eyes forward and silently focused on the road.